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Protest rally organizers deny their alleged estrangement from Udaltsov

“The organizing committee has not held a meeting and no decision has been made,” Anastasia Udaltsova told

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, March 11 (Itar-Tass) —— The organizers of protest rallies For Fair Election have denied claims that they allegedly estrange themselves from Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov.

“The organizing committee has not held a meeting and no decision has been made,” committee member, Left Front spokesperson Anastasia Udaltsova told Itar-Tass.

Another committee member, Khimki Forest defender Yevgeny Chirikova knows nothing about the alleged estrangement or condemnation of Udaltsov. She said though she was surprised with Udaltsov’s appeal to stay on Pushkin Square upon the end of the March 5 rally permitted by the authorities. “I wrote about that in my blog. It was not clear why we should stay on the square. It is clear why we should go to the Kremlin – the symbol of the country. What symbol is Pushkin Square? Why stay near or even inside the fountain on Pushkin Square? Yet I have heard nothing about condemnation or estrangement,” she said.

Udaltsov and a group of his supporters tried to go on Pushkin Square when the Novy Arbat rally ended on March 10, but the police seized him. Udaltsov was charged with disobedience to the police; he might be sentenced to 15 days of arrest. He is due to appear in a magistrate court on March 13.

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